The Blog

Can building a Personal Brand benefit Leaders?

I did my first ever FaceBook live post last week and despite the amount of public speaking that I do it was nerve-wracking. I found that I had to get used to videoing myself and had to drown out the little voice that was saying “Isn’t this somewhat narcissistic”. Anyway, having got over that it made me think about why it seemed so strange. We live in an age where building a Personal Brand is critical, especially for leaders. It can often feel like selling or like we’re faking it when in fact it’s none of those things.

What is Personal Branding?

Personal Branding has become so important. If you want to build a business, be an entrepreneur or simply share a message with the world. Personal Branding is not about selling. Nor is it about ‘Faking It till You Make It‘. It’s about connection. People want to know who you are.

It’s no-longer enough to have a business card or a website that simply tells your clients the services you offer. People want to be able to communicate with you. They want to connect; especially if they’re going to spend their hard-earned cash/time with you. Ironically, in a world where we have so much technology that allows us to communicate we seem to be lacking in ‘real talk’ and so have little connection.If Personal Branding is about connection then it goes beyond just how you look on and off-line. It’s about who you really are – including your character and your values. I love how Matt Sweetwood in the Entrepreneur defines it:

… a powerful, attractive and visible personal brand. I define that as an online and in-person authentic display of the engaging aspects of your professional and personal activities and interests.

If you are a leader your personal brand is always on display. Your team watch how you deal with things, especially in crisis. They watch to see if you are technically competent, as well as you treat others, to determine what sort of leader you are. And whether you are effective or not.